


Hugless

by misura



Category: X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Post-X2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8238259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "You really care about him, don't you?" Storm asked.
"Not really, no," Logan said.





	

"Hugs," Logan repeated.

"A neutral form of physical comfort," said Charles. "One that will remind him that he has friends here, people who care about his well-being."

"Spare me the lecture." It was _an_ answer, Logan supposed. Not the one he'd hoped for, but then, this was Charles, who firmly believed in letting people stumble around on their own, rather than giving them a detailed map. "Just ... " No point in asking if Charles was sure. "I'm not really the hugging kind."

Charles smiled. "Then this will be a learning experience for both of you."

 

The way Logan looked at it, he was going to get one, _maybe_ two shots at this. Scott was not an idiot (well, yes, he was, actually), meaning that eventually, he'd catch on to the plan.

Never mind that it was a stupid plan. If Charles thought that it would help, Logan was willing to go along with it. The worst thing that could happen was that Scott would stop talking to him, which would be no great loss, given that right now, Scott barely talked to _anyone_.

The best thing that could happen, Logan figured, was that Scott would get annoyed with him, push him away (which Logan would let him do, just this once) and go back from being mopey to being insufferable - back to his old self, in other words. Probably, that would be a bit much to hope to accomplish with one surprise hug, but you never knew.

 

"You're going to _hug_ Scott." Storm sounded amused. Looked it, too, which was good.

Not everyone might be as obvious about their feelings as Scott (or as incapable of handling them) but he was not the only who missed Jean.

"The Professor suggested it might help," Logan said, trying not to sound defensive. "Wanna try?"

"I'm good, thank you."

She was still shaking her head as she walked away, which was her prerogative, of course; nobody'd suggested _Storm_ was moping. On the other hand, Logan felt as if there was something more going on here, like there was something Storm was thinking (and possibly Charles as well) that they weren't telling him.

(Fair enough, in a way, given that there was plenty of stuff Logan wasn't telling _them_.)

 

"I've already explained this to you two times," Scott said. He sounded tired, like hanging around in his room all day required a lot of energy. "How many more times should we go over this?"

"Until the way you explain it actually makes sense?" Logan didn't think that was too much to ask for. He was doing Scott a favor here, after all. It hadn't been _Logan's_ idea to become a substitute teacher. (In all fairness, it hadn't been Scott's, either, but if Scott hadn't been incapable of teaching, there wouldn't have been any need for Logan to take up the profession.)

"I don't think my explanation is the problem here."

As far as openings went, that was as good as it was going to get. "I agree," Logan said, watching Scott's face for some kind of reaction.

Nothing. "Then why are you wasting my time?" Scott asked.

"You ever thought about moving to another room?" Logan said, looking around. The signs of Jean's past presence weren't obvious, but they were there if you knew how to look for them. If you'd known Jean.

"No," said Scott.

"She's not coming back, Scott." Giving him a hug might have been easier.

Kinder, too, although Logan wasn't particularly interested in being kind right now. "I know."

"Are you?"

"Logan, I'm not moving to another room," Scott said.

 

"Must have been some hug," said Storm, packing up yet more books.

Logan had been under the impression that the school boasted a library, negating the need for people to create their own. "Thanks again for doing this." Then again, Jean had been Jean.

"No problem."

Scott would be gone for at least another hour, which would hopefully allow them to move all of Scott's things to another room, and to put all of Jean's things ... somewhere else.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Storm asked.

"Not really, no," Logan said.

 

"Do correct me if I'm wrong," Charles said, "but I distinctly remember suggesting hugs."

Logan shrugged. "I had a better idea."

"You thought punching him in the face was a better idea than giving him a hug?" Charles sounded genuinely curious, which was better than if he'd sounded annoyed or (God forbid) angry, even if Logan had really been hoping for amused or sympathetic.

"To be fair, he punched me first. Granted, it wasn't much of a punch, but ... "

Charles gestured dismissively. "You thought picking a fight with him would make him feel better than being presented with genuine proof that he was loved and even missed. Who hit first is irrelevant; what interests me is the way you reached this ... remarkable conclusion."

Logan considered. "Maybe I just felt like punching him in the face."

"You packed up Jean's things. You invaded Scott's privacy. You tricked Ororo into helping you. That's a lot of work if all you wanted was a physical confrontation. You could have achieved as much by far simpler means."

Logan didn't think so, but unlike some people he could name, he had no particular desire to always have the last word. "If you say so."

Charles sighed. "May I suggest that you at least apologize to Ororo?"

 

Scott was waiting for him when Logan got back to his room, which was a surprise.

"What do _you_ want?"

"You had no right to touch her things," Scott said. His tone suggested that he'd be happy to go for a repeat of this afternoon - the way he held himself suggested that it wouldn't be much of a fight.

"Really," Logan said. Healing factor or not, he felt exhausted. "How about _your_ things?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't care what you do to my things - you want to sniff my socks, be my guest, but you had _no_ right to touch Jean's."

"All right. I'll keep that in mind next time I want to sniff some socks." Which would approximately be never. "Happy?"

"I - " Scott said. "I wasn't ready."

"Can you get the hell out of my room now?"

For one moment, he thought he was going to get that fight after all, then Scott's shoulders slumped a bit and he said, "Yeah, sure," and moved past Logan to the door.

 

"So, you and Scott are all good again?"

Logan wondered if this was what it was like to have a family. "Were we ever?" Part of him appreciated the concern, but part of him wished people would simply mind their own business.

"You know what I mean," said Storm. "He seems better. More himself."

"I'm not sure if that's actually an improvement."

"Yes, you are."

And then there was the bit where everyone seemed to believe they knew what he was feeling better than he knew himself. "Fine. You got me. I really love it when people are being stuck-up assholes."

Storm grimaced. "Not people. Scott. And he's not that bad."

"If you say so."

"In fact, neither of you is as bad as you seem to think. Maybe the two of you should talk about that sometimes, work out a few things. You might be surprised."

"I'll put it on my to-do list for next year."

Which was the moment Scott walked in on the conversation, of course. "Put what on your to-do list? Being less of an asshole? Good plan. Better late than never, right?"

"I've got a class to prepare," Storm said, before fleeing like the coward she wasn't, which meant Logan was probably supposed to have that heart-to-heart, we're-not-so-different-after-all talk with Scott.

"So when are _you_ going to make yourself useful around here again?"

"As soon as the professor clears me for duty," Scott said. He sounded resentful about it, which seemed fair enough. "Why? Job getting to be too much for you?"

"I can handle the job." Some days, it was almost fun, like something he'd want to spend the rest of his life doing - off and on, of course. "It's my colleagues I have a problem with. Or, well, one colleague."

"You're thinking pretty highly of yourself, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Logan. "I don't believe in false modesty."

"False modesty," Scott repeated. "That's a good one. You know, I talked to the professor about you. About how badly I wanted you gone."

That actually stung a little. "And?"

"He suggested a simple solution," said Scott. He seemed to be bracing himself for a fight, which would surely _not_ have been part of Charles's 'simple solution'.

Which probably meant Scott wasn't about to hit him. Which meant - "You, too, huh?"

Scott groaned, but he did seem to relax a little.

Logan decided now was as good a time to any to prove once and for all that hugs were definitely not the answer to anything.

 

"Did you do something to me?" Logan demanded.

"Not at all." Charles looked smug. "Is it safe to say that you found the experience not as horrible as you feared, then? That, in fact, you rather enjoyed it?"

"I'm not - " Logan started, before he changed his mind.

"It needn't mean anything beyond the simple fact that you crave human contact every once in a while," Charles said. "Most people do. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yeah, see, when you say 'human contact', I really want to say something else."

If possible, Charles looked even smugger. "That ... is really none of my business, Logan."

"Damn right it isn't."

 

So apparently he had a thing for stuck-up assholes who listened to godawful pop music and drove really fast bikes. Probably a good thing he'd only found out _now_.

Probably an even better thing one particular stuck-up asshole appeared to return the feeling.

"Just so you know, this doesn't mean you can borrow my bike whenever you feel like it," said Scott.

"Fine," Logan said. He'd borrow Scott's bike whenever he damn well felt like it, and they both knew it.

"Or my car."

"That was one time, and I think we can both agree that it was an emergency," said Logan.

"Fine," said Scott. "Are you actually going to do something here, or am I expected to do everything by myself? I mean, I _could_ , but - "


End file.
